Political reporters use Yik Yak to pep up stories about Ted Cruz's campaign announcement; The New York Times, Buzzfeed and National Geographic may agree to let Facebook host their news on its servers; Google fiber users to soon get targeted television ads; and much, much more. Read More

Edward Snowden and John Perry Barlow, "A Conversation Across Cyberspace" at PDF 2014.

Announcing the theme for this year's Personal Democracy Forum, our twelfth since 2004: "Imagine All The People: The Future of Civic Tech." We want to take you into a future where everyone is participating, a future that we build together using technology appropriately, powering solutions to shared civic problems. The future is what we make it; at this year's PDF we'll gather to hear from the people who are making civic tech that genuinely matters, and fighting to ensure that everyone gets to benefit. Register now to attend--this is the last week to save $100 on conference registration, our early bird rate has been extended through Sunday March 22nd.

The FBI makes communities sign nondisclosure agreements if they want to use this cellphone tracking tool; police really like their automated license plate readers; edits to Wikipedia pages for Eric Garner, Sean Bell and Amadou Diallo traced to the New York City Police Department; it's Sunshine Week; and much, much more. Read More

The CIA tried to undermine iPhone and iPad security; Wikipedia, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International USA, the ACLU and others sue the NSA; the White House's new $100 million tech initiative; and much, much more. Read More

The Clinton email brouhaha continues: Network Solutions, Clinton's domain registrar, was hacked in 2010; faulty encryption left the Clinton system open to hacking; @clintonemail.com a status symbol; "Jeb Bush did it too"; and much, much more. Read More

Hillary Clinton stumbles on transparency; Jeb Bush chides her but he's too transparent; how Janet Napolitano got around that pesky gov't email rule; meanwhile, New York puts expiration dates on state workers' emails; and much, much more! Read More

"Citizens could be assessing all kinds of civic opportunities." (yelp.com)

We have more opportunities to get involved in our communities, through a wider array of tools, processes, meetings, and apps than ever before. Some of these opportunities are interesting and beneficial, while others—especially the ones supported by governments in the name of public participation—can be frustrating and may even be harmful. So how should we judge? What kinds of public engagement are helpful?